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Published: August 20th 2007
Pollo Embarazada??
Canaima...how good does this look?...tasted even better!Come back in the trip?
Return to Canaima and the fabulous Falls...
So we got to Puerto La Cruz (PLC) and got a berth at a marina…have we been there?…....Michael wanted to shout us a trip...very nice gesture.....so we went and saw the delightful Keigla who squeezed us into a 3 day excursione to Canaima…it started out with her squeezing us into a kamikaze taxi at 4am….an old shitbox chevy with the back seat from hell, you know, riding the bum-cracking bar in the middle or cramping in the lopsided sags on the sides….and a driver who, to be fair, probably once drove pretty well…like before his eyesight deteriorated, hand-eye co-ordination deserted him, distance calculation, recognition of roads, potholes, other cars etc was completely gone…you get the picture….anyway, 4 and a half hours later we get to Ciudad Bolivar and cram into a little Cessna-sorta thing…..our pilot is a latino Harvey Keitel sort of looking guy…pretty laid-back…you know…as we swing onto the main runway he remembers to slam his door….filled with confidence we ask him to do the fly-by of Angel Falls on the way in…it’s an option that just requires extra $$…..he nods, we try to nod off,
and off we go…lurching across the runway as we gather speed in that same, disconcerting way that all small planes do….I’m watching the little tyre bulging and distorting as we thunder down the bitumen…how much sideways pressure does it take to peel the whole thing off?..what exactly happens when a plane has a blowout??..all the usual questions…but then, as you’d expect, with a little twist of the handle, grapple with the steering wheel, we manage to clear the fence, swing around the refinery, pull up over the primary school and head out of town.
He takes a continuos climb approach…I'm happy, as we are heading straight towards these absolute mountainous, seriously big thunderheads…the ones that they could never find the results from when they flew small planes into to test them..hahaha…after an hour or so of plunging into white walls of cloud, getting thrown around, glimpses of gaps where Harvey zooms us into…we must be getting close…Harvey fumbles in his bag and comes up with a little hand-held, Dickless Smith type GPS systems …he unfolds it and balances it on the dash board…he punches a few buttons…I can’t see ANYTHING on the little screen…he’s constantly rubbing his jaw, looking
around, up and down, doesn't exactly inspire confidence.....it's like he's thinking "now I know it's here somewhere!"...we’re going around in circles in the clouds and you know what the particularly famous geological feature of this area is??….No?.. it’s kilometre-plus high, vertical rock walls, that rise up from nowhere!!…not exactly the place for flying around blind!!…eventually he gives up on the I-know-it’s-here-somewhere routine and we land at Canaima.
Now, I promised only a few words and lots of pics so I’ll keep it brief…and you can always go back to the last time I was here for more intimate details…
Into the same dugout canoes with the massive outboards…the seats so hard that all bums are numbs…4.5 hours, spray and splashes drenching everyone…takes your mind off your aching arse tho’…what a bonus!…hooting and screaming, shooting (up) the rapids ..aaaiiyyee….gnarly little guy riding the bow with a hand-carved little oar…no way he’s going to be much help when the propellor drops off and you’re halfway up a niagra falls scenario!!….anyway, of course we get there…the camp of the hamacas…fabulous dinner of Pollo embarazado…pregnant chicken???…actually it was pollo para asada..barbecued chook..and fab..see the pic…roasted around the open fire…and of course, over
the river..the famous Angel Falls…you remember the story of Jimmy Angel??…bogged his plane on top of the falls amazing escape climbing down with his girlfriend?…and still the highest waterfall in the world 975 metres..go back to blog of my first time…a-flipping-mazing..much more water here than last time….aiy aiy aiy…
Differing degrees of success for everyone sleeping in the hamacas…I was fine…next day the trek to the viewing point…so much spray it was almost impossible to keep the lens clear…and the roar you could hear for miles out…..
Back to camp and back down the river…more spray, splash etc…back to home base camp…draw straws for the bunks, hamacas or tent options…being my birthday I get a bed..whoo hoo…actually I don’t mind the hamaca but tonight I’ll take a bed!!
Next day to Sappo falls where you can walk under the falls…last time it was just unbelievably fantastic..this time, with 3 times the volume of water it was indescribable…and just like everywhere else, after saying that I’ll go on and attempt to describe it…Huh?
Before entering you have to take off everything except swimwear....and stash other clothes and footwear in the rocks...…all cameras etc are carried in a plastin bag
by the guide…you’re going to need all hands and feet for this…a small pile of shoes and sandals bears testament to those who did not return…a little sobering thought to help you along!!..The roaring of the water sets the scene as you get close…as you start to walk thru’ great blasts of spray, in fact more like solid water than spray, roars out of the walkway…it’s blinding, you’re constantly wiping your eyes, futile!…on your left the rushing, roaring wall of water, pulsing and convulsing, deafeningly loud roar, like a step to the left and you’ll be swept away forever!…can’t see, can’t hear..stumbling along the uneven surface, slippery steps and chunks of rock…almost impossible to maintain balance, on the right, the jagged rock wall, overhanging and banging unwary heads, fingers grappling for some grip on the rock…in parts, down on all fours, seeking a passage, our guide helping us thru’ the more dangerous parts…and constant lashings of waves of spray,….and it just goes on and on….where will it end?..we’ve been stumbling along for what seems like half an hour, actually it’s probably about 70 or 80 metres but snail’s pace with frequent stops to regain equilibrium…finally the last few steps and
we are clear…but hardly, as the spray continues to swirl up and around…the lower level viewing spot is almost impossible to get to without going down backwards…you just can’t see anything going towards it…we’re standing in awe and amazement…how have we managed to conquer this fantastic, scary, dangerous passage?…then, as we are about to return…out of the mist comes a conga line of Japanese tourists..jesus wept!…we had seen this group of (mainly) geriatric travellers on the hike to the Angel Falls and wondered if they would make that medium level climb…and here they are coming thru’ this!!…enormous respect for these people…most of them had, very sensibly, swim goggles!…Ha..one even had a dive mask..what genius..they were hanging on to each other like mountaineers crossing the Eiger…however, didn’t detract from our sense of achievement and general awe at the whole scene.
And then back to town and the boat…so much more to enthrall you with but hey…it’s a working day and you’d all better get back to it…Ha…anyway…a couple of days later my good mate Raffy with whom I travelled for 2 or 3 months on motorcycles, you remember?…came aboard…it was really good to see him again..we’d been in touch by
Sappo Falls Roaring
Canaima. This is the one we walked (??) under! phone, text and email and he had very generously met Ben at Caracas airport when he arrived…still as exuberant and generous as ever.....great guy!..also along was his girlfriend…what can I say.. a beautiful, flamenco and belly dance teacher…..with the classically Venezuelan over-endowment that commanded attention like a hypnotist’s spinning spiral…how do you maintain conversation?..it’s like when the TV is on and it just draws your eyes…..I mean, without wanting to bang on about it too much..we’re not talking grapefruit here, we’re talking bloody cantaloupes..barely restrained by miniscule triangles of some material that I could probably tell you the colour, texture, thread pattern etc..a triumph of collatage over gravitas…and the four of us desperately trying to maintain a conversation…Ha..I mean, really, the Venezuelan flag should have a giant pair of norks on it…like the nutmeg’s significance on the flag of Grenada!…and it must be so uncomfortable..crikey…what these women have to do…but that’s a discussion for another forum!!
hey, it's nearly 7.30pm here...big day...from watching the MotoGP by some extremely fortuitous bano-seeking adventure at 6am to twilight by the pool with hi-speed WiFi and indirect news that Ben is holed up in LA awaiting another flight home!.....chau, besos.....
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